Acupuncture for Bunny and Indy

Today was a very hectic car-day for me. After taking Indy back from his morning jab, I had to get ready to take both Bunny and Indy for acupuncture at Dr Susanna's in TTDI.

Indy was very well-behaved in the car on that 45-min ride to TTDI, but Bunny.........

Bunny was complaining NON-STOP!

Yes, we had a perfectly timed orchestra playing throughout the entire journey, from the time I loaded him into the car until I parked outside Dr Susanna's house.

Poor Bunny must have been so stressed. I told myself no more car-trips unless absolutely necessary. I'll pay the extra for transport and ask if Dr Susanna could come to the house instead.

Once inside the room, I let both the cats out, and you could see the personality difference in them instantly!

Indy straight away went to hide under a shelf which was partially covered. Dr Susanna most cats would go there if they are scared.

Bunny surveyed every inch of the room, looked out of the window, and "talked". Or was he asking questions, like, "Where is this place? And why am I here? What's going on? You mean I traveled all the way for this? What's in it for me?", etc.

Dr Susanna examined Indy first. We'd repeat the kidney and spleen points since that's where Indy is weak. I had to hold Indy down for the 25 mins as this time, he resisted. Guess the first time, he was too sickly to resist.

Indy made it for the 25 mins, and we did not lose a single needle.

Next was Bunny's turn.

I was quite surprised when Dr Susanna checked Bunny's pulse and felt his organs, and told me Bunny is a "deficient" cat. His pulse is very small and deep-rooted. There is also a hissing sound in his lungs, which could mean there could be a partial blockage.

So, as stout as he appears to be, Bunny is not in very good health, qi-wise.

And this could be due to the fact that Bunny loves to eat just raw chicken meat besides kibble. Raw chicken meat alone is not balanced. But I've tried giving him bone and veggies, he just refuses.

For Bunny, I also had to hold him down, but several of the needles came out before the 25 minutes was up. There were two very sensitive points on the paw that needed to be treated, and Bunny tried to pull out the needles with his teeth! Dr Susanna said most cats hate having these points treated, so it is not surprising. One needle popped out twice and had to be reinserted.

 Dr Susanna settling Bunny down before the treatment.

 Bunny being treated with snacks after the session.

 Indy hiding under the book rack.

Dr Susanna emphasizes a lot on nutrition. A balanced raw diet is good, but not all cats can eat raw food. Next best would be a balanced home-cooked meal. I'm going to look at some recipes and try this out. Next to this, for busy owners, would be good quality canned food like Natural Balance, Go! and Addiction. The fourth choice would be good quality dry kibble.

A word about kibble - always buy the smallest possible bag even if you need a lot. The reason is there is a certain fungus that grows on kibbles without being visible and this fungus is very toxic. And keep the kibbles in the fridge at all times to preserve its freshness as long as possible. Take out the needed portion directly from the fridge to feed your animals.

All this is new to me. I didn't know kibbles had to be kept in the fridge.

And another word about kibble - they don't seem to spoil even if you kept them for months. That shows how much preservatives are contained in it.

That is why it's the fourth option!

Now, for me, this is really valuable information. I'm determined to gradually change my cats' diet.

After the session, I brought the cats back amidst Bunny's orchestra.

After settling the cats in and feeding Indy (he still has to be force-fed), I went catfood hunting again.

Luckily Amy Lim allows me to exchange some of the unopened canned food I had bought yesterday. This time I bought more Natural Balance and voila! - for now, I've actually found a brand/flavour to satisfy the taste buds of each of my cats, including fussy Tiger who insists on Fussie Cat and nothing else. Tiger is not willing to take any other canned food except Natural Balance Salmon (tiny bits mixed with a lot of his Fussie Cat).

Dr Susanna described how she patiently converted the diet of one of her own cats from kibble to home-cooked. It took her three years of persistence and committed patience. It started off with just placing some home-cooked food onto the bowl next to the kibbles and the cat not licking it at all. Then, this progressed to the cat being willing to sniff it. Next was being willing to eat some of the kibbles which had a hint of home-cooked food. And finally, happily-ever-after, after THREE years, the cat would eat only home-cooked and does not want kibble anymore.

Animals are creatures of habit, and old habits die hard, yet they can be changed, if we are persistent enough.

I'm going to be very persistent here... Not pushy, just persistent. And I'll definitely give time for change to happen.

My first step is to get a brand/flavour of good quality canned food for each cat. After two days of trying, I think I've got there already. I'll let this new habit settle in for at least a few weeks or months before introducing another change. Worse come to worst, at least I've made this one major change towards better nutrition for them.

For fussy Tiger, it would have to be a dash of Natural Balance mixed into his Fussie Cat for now. Maybe, for the next few months too. Pole and Cleo are very fussy eaters as well. Bunny will eat anything as he just loves to eat!

Good food = Good Qi = Better health and wellbeing.

We are what we eat.